Discord sat quietly in the air above a small chair that had been reserved for him in a moderate-sized meeting room in the eastern wing of Canterlot Castle.  Beside him, albeit a few feet closer to the ground, sat the purple alicorn princess, Twilight Sparkle, patiently awaiting the entrance of the princess they had come to meet as per the monthly schedule.

As the draconequus reclined in midair with his claws cradling the back of his head like a pillow, his feathery serpentine tail swayed gently back and forth, only slightly ruffling the mane of his pony escort.  Though his face was grinning and his muscles relaxed, the beast’s mind was going wild with questions, attempting to piece together a puzzle that it wasn’t even sure existed.  With each piece the puzzle grew more complex; to the point where Discord’s tail began to oscillate with equal intensity enough to actually annoy the alicorn below.

The beast’s thoughts were suddenly broken, for better or worse, when she spoke up, “Are you feeling okay?”  Though the tone she adopted sounded genuinely caring, the target of the question knew all too well that it was not.

With a smug chuckle, Discord replied, “Absolutely fine, my dear.  Why do you ask?”  Sitting upright, he gently lowered himself into the comparatively uncomfortable seat and turned to face her.

Rolling her eyes at the pseudo-pet name, Twilight groaned, “No reason in particular.  You’ve just been acting jumpy lately.”

“Jumpy?  Me?  Oh, never!”  The abomination placed the back of his lion paw to his forehead in mock-concern.  “I mean, I’m only the physical embodiment of all things nonsensical and destructive, why should I be jumpy?”  A sly grin stretched across his features as he rose back into the air.

“I meant you’ve been acting even weirder than usual the last few months!” Twilight snapped with an annoyed glare gracing her face.

“Have I?” the beast’s expression fell blank.  I can’t begin to imagine why.  I mean, my eyes have only been opened to the fact that this world could be invaded by creatures with magical powers rivaling my own at any time.  Why should I act any different than before?  “I haven’t noticed.”

The pony sighed, “Ever since the Parasprite incident, you’ve been acting a lot less like yourself…”

Out of seemingly nowhere, a small fit of disgust surfaced in the beast’s reaction.  He countered, “Oh have I?  In all the months I’ve been reformed, how much time have we actually spent speaking to one another?”  Pausing only briefly to reflect on his words and check her reaction, he continued, “The most time we’ve spent in each other’s company is perhaps an hour, and that’s only at these senseless evaluations that Celestia insists are necessary.  Quite frankly, I don’t see what gives you the power to judge whether or not I’ve been acting unlike myself.”

“For your information,” Twilight rebutted, “Fluttershy was the one who told me you’ve been acting funny.  She’s really concerned.”

Discord’s face fell blank as he sighed, “But as we both know, my dear, Fluttershy worries about everything.  I assure you that I’m absolutely fine.”  Placing his eagle claw to his chest, he added, “Draconequus’s word.”

“You say that like your word is worth something to me.”

The beast’s eyes opened wide as he slowly realized what she had just said.  He chuckled, “Did you just insult me, Twilight?”  When she didn’t respond, he let out a longing sigh.  “They grow up so fast!”

Twilight opened her mouth to offer one of her usual rants, but quickly fell silent when the doors to the room opened wide.  With a slight hint of urgency, a larger white alicorn trotted into the room, breathing heavily with each step.  Her multicolored mane was slightly tussled as if she had just been performing some sort of vigorous exercise, and her coat was equally ruffled in spots.

Taking her place at the larger seat on the opposite side of the small table from the two guests, she sighed, “I’m terribly sorry for my tardiness, Twilight.  There was some minor business that needed to be handled in the western wing of the castle.  Nothing too serious, but it needed to be done…”  Her voice faded slowly, obviously not going into detail on the situation.

“Must’ve been some serious business,” Discord whistled.  “After all, for you to be late to something scheduled so far in advance would take something much more important than hearing Twilight tell you how not-chaotic I’ve been over the month…”

Twilight scoffed, “Pardon him, Princess.  He’s been acting even sassier lately.”

“Is that so?” the princess replied, cocking an eyebrow in curiosity.  “It’s to be expected, I would assume.”

“It is?” the two guests asked in unison, both equally curious as to how anything the draconequus did could possibly be expected.

“Well,” she began with a sigh, “it was one year ago today, if I’m not mistaken.  It’s a wonder how much has happened in such short time, isn’t it?”

Discord, feeling a bit left out of the ‘know,’ chuckled, “A year ago today…what?”

Princess Celestia explained, “Today would be the anniversary of the first time you broke free from your stone prison—and subsequently the first time you battled the new Elements of Harmony.”  She placed a hoof on the table, seemingly lost in thought.  “Don’t tell me you of all creatures forgot?” she added with a light giggle.

“You’ll have to pardon me if I haven’t been counting the days since I was given a good thrashing…” the beast mumbled disinterestedly.

Twilight harnessed a small bit of magic to levitate a folder of papers onto the table from her satchel.  “Well, whatever the reason, that’s all I have to report.  For the most part, he’s been plain old Discord.”  She stared the beast in question, silently offering her temporary dismissal of Fluttershy’s concerns.

“Very well then.  We’ll just sign off on this, and we can resume other business.”

The young princess raised an eyebrow in sudden concern.  “Is that all this session will take?  Are you certain you don’t want to ask any questions or—?”

“That’s quite alright, Twilight.”  With a light golden aura, a small quill pen wafted through the air from an inkpot on a table against the wall.  Without hesitation, and quite sloppily, Princess Celestia scratched her signature in a designated spot before passing the pen on to her student.

Somewhat disturbed by the hurried nature of the evaluation, Twilight scratched her signature with her own aura, and the pen was sent back to its inkpot.  She opened her mouth to speak but was instead cut off by her abominable companion.

“Well, I suppose I’ll be off, then.  After all, there’s plenty of fun to be had!”

Just as he was about to bring two of his claws together for a magical snap the door to the room burst open to the sound of winded breaths.  A bulky, stern-looking guard in brighter-than-usual gold armor coughed for breath, his helmet nowhere to be found with tufts of his mane scorched.  A small cut ran down his cheek, light blood dripping from it.

“Captain Aegis!  What happened to you?”  Celestia leaped to her hooves, trotting directly to the disturbed guard’s side.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, the guard wheezed, “T-The statue is doing a thing!  It’s… outta control!”  With that, he collapsed to the ground in a weary heap, dead to the world.

“Twilight,” the elder princess snapped, “attend to Captain Aegis!  I have business to attend to!”  Without waiting for a response, she darted from the room and into the hall.

It seems as if it’s time for some fun.  Everyone knows Canterlot could use a bit more spice, after all!  But that poor little soldier, he didn’t stand a chance.  And what was with that language?  The abomination floated leisurely from the room, following the path he believed the princess had taken.  I mean, honestly: ‘is doing a thing.’  Was that even Equestrian?

As he swam through the air, he listened to the panicked cries of ponies coming from the western wing of Canterlot Castle.  He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of statue they were dealing with.  And as his thoughts shifted to statues, he once again thought back to the visitor from another world that he had battled and befriended those three months ago.

What was that man’s name?  I’m certain it started with an ‘S’ and ended in ‘rath,’ but everything in between is blank.  Argh, this is frustrating even for a master of nonsensical situations!

***

“Lord Sheogorath!”

A stern, unforgiving voice called out into the massive entrance hall of the palace of the Daedric Prince of Madness.  The hall itself seemed extra foreboding at the time, especially for the creature being dragged by the collar into it.  The cold blue of the Dementia-themed half of the long walkway to the throne at the far end of the hall and the warm red of the Mania-themed half mixed in a foreboding harmony as they sent their energies up the poor soul’s rear.

As he was accepting his fate and all the possible outcomes this meeting could climax in, the poor man let his mind fill with awe at the massive size of the hall.  The red fire or blue fire pits on either side of the walkway stood out strongly against the light beige of the building’s stone structure, while the bright sky-blue of the glass windows that lined the top of the walls on every side added a sense of serenity to the scene.  But still nothing could fully block the thoughts of his possible death if he should say something offensive to the Madgod…

As he was dragged past the second-to-last pair of torches, he was lifted from the ground and tossed to the foot of the small stairs leading to the throne proper.  For the first—and possibly the last—time, the man managed to take in the throne in its full wonder.  A massive tree sprouted from the ground behind it, reaching up to the ceiling.  On either side of it, mushrooms grew with respect to the Realm of Madness in which they sat.

He even got to see the beauty of the Golden Saint that had forced him into this potentially fatal audience.  With golden skin and matching armor that barely concealed her midriff and cleavage, this particular Golden Saint would have been a sight to behold—had she not essentially sentenced the man to death.

She bowed low before explaining, “My Lord, this commoner approached insisting on an audience.  When we refused, he drew a blade on us.”  Standing back upright, she drew the weapon in question from a small sheath and tossed it onto the throne platform.

“So we’ve got a mad fighter here, do we?  I won’t deny it:  I like your guts, fella!”

The man on the throne—an aged, white-haired man dressed in a snappy purple jacket and yellow undershirt—leaned over to pick up the fallen weapon.  He let out a chuckle before handing it over to a balding, middle-aged man standing beside his throne.  The younger man had no emotional expression on his face, totally disinterested in the happenings of his present company.  Above all else, he was only there for the sake of appeasing his Lord.

The man on the ground, sweat pouring from his head, cried out, “My Lord Sheogorath, I promise I can explain myself!  Just give me a chance!”  He attempted to stand up, wanting to have the freedom to run away if the need arose.

At about the time his legs reached full length, the Golden Saint delivered a kick to the back of one knee, buckling it and sending the man back to the ground in agony.  She scoffed, “Kneel when you’re in the presence of our Master, cretin!”

“There’s no need for such force, Seraph, my dear!  This man is nothing but a lowly Khajiit from the Fringe…”  Placing a hand to his thick goatee, Sheogorath thought about what he’d just said.  “So you’re from the Fringe, right?  And how did someone as pathetic as you manage to make it all the way here to New Sheoth…with such a tiny sword, no less!”

It takes certain skills to make it far enough to grovel at my feet.  My champion had been the first in a long time, but now this pathetic cat managed?  Has something happened to my beloved Gatekeeper, perhaps?

Looking around to ensure he was safe to speak, he sighed, “I had more supplies, before I was attacked by some odd knights in silver armor…”

The Madgod’s eyes opened wide at hearing those words.  He growled, “Silver armor?!  What kind of silver armor are you talking about?!”

The man beside the throne sighed in an indifferent tone, “My Lord, he’s not speaking of the Knights of Order.  I believe he’s referring to the remnants of the curious fools from Cyrodiil.”  Dusting a few specks of dirt from the shoulder of his black coat, he stared down at the doomed guest.

“Thank you Haskill.  I needed to hear that.”  Sheogorath leaned forward, his wooden staff catching most of his weight.  He whispered, “You had me worried, little kitty.  So tell me then:  why have you come all this way?”

“My Lord,” the cat began, barely considering his words, “I was chosen by the people of the Fringe to deliver this message to you.  A mysterious door has opened where the Door to Cyrodiil once stood.  An odd aura of magical energy seems to be leaking through, causing horrendous beasts to develop from the wildlife.”

“A door?  In my Fringe!  What nerve!  Haskill, have you heard anything of this?”

The chamberlain replied blankly, “No sir, not a word.”

“So you’re telling me that this door opened without my knowledge?  How?  I’m the only one that may open doors!”  The staff in his hand morphed into a large key, fit into its own disembodied keyhole.

“I’m terribly sorry, my Lord, but it’s the truth.  Many residents of Passwall have already been ripped to shreds by these new monsters.”

“Very well then.  Haskill and I shall go examine this new door.  And if it proves to be a threat, we’ll kill it!”  The Madgod leaped from his throne, patting his companion hard on the back, while Haskill simply stood in emotionless acceptance of the wondrous time he would get to spend with his Lord.

The Golden Saint groaned, “What shall I do with this cat?”

The guest in question looked up at his God-King with hopeful eyes.  With a chuckle, Sheogorath dismissed him.  “Dispose of him how you see fit, Seraph dear.  Try to be creative!”

“Wait, what, no!  Please, my Lord!  I beg of you, spar--!”

Without a single second’s hesitation, Seraph’s blade cut clean through the poor man’s neck, the head falling on the floor with little resistance.  A skip in his step, the Madgod began his journey from the castle, Haskill close behind.  As he opened the doors to the palace, he began to whistle a familiar and happy tune.

It’s a shame, really.  I could have used a new pet, after the last one went kaput…  Oh well, I suppose.  But we could have at least given him a better execution.  I’ve always wanted to see a public death by CHEESE!  Heh-heh…

***

“This is quite bizarre, isn’t it?”

Discord hovered gently in the air, staring directly at a large lion’s head statue that had seemingly sprung up from nowhere in the middle of the main hall of the western wing of Canterlot Castle.  There was no structural damage anywhere around it, and it simply sat in silent wonder.  No light, no sound, no magic, nothing.  To the abomination, it looked too familiar to be a coincidence.  To the residents of the western wing, it looked like a prison cell.  To the princesses, it looked like trouble.

“Any attempt to touch it,” a small Pegasus guard in gold armor groaned, “ends up in being a very unfortunate pony…”

“Yes, I would imagine so.”  The beast stared at it grimly, attempting to remember what it looked like.  So many questions were appearing because of the blasted stone, but none of the answers seemed within reach.

Princess Celestia sighed, “We simply must remove it; all of the ponies in this wing are trapped unless we do…”

“Are there no side passages?  Are there no windows?  They’re hardly trapped, Celestia.  Lazy, perhaps, but not trapped by any means.”

Another alicorn, slightly smaller than the white one, tapped her hooves on the ground in front of the statue.  “I cannot make heads or tails of this bizarre creation.  It has no magic, yet it continues to defy our attacks.”  Her black coat was just as ruffled and her night-sky mane as tussled as the larger alicorn’s.

“Humph!” Discord growled, shifting closer to the stone.  “Perhaps a bit of Chaos is in order, don’t you agree Luna?”

“Under normal circumstances I would never condone the use of your magic, Discord.  However…”

“It would seem we have no choice.  This blockage needs to be cleared immediately before somepony else gets hurt!”  Princess Celestia nodded acceptingly, waving a hoof at the statue.

A large grin stretched across Discord’s face, happy to see that the princesses were powerless against a chunk of rock.  Taking a moment to stretch his body, the beast placed both arms against the effigy as if preparing to crawl on it.  As golden energy streamed down them, it spread quickly to engulf the entirety of the target nuisance.  Once it was coated, he backed away slightly and snapped his claws to activate the aura.

For a brief moment, the stone vanished into thin air, and everypony in the hall cheered joyously.  Seconds later, it snapped back to existence with a massive burst of electricity, zapping every single pony within range and knocking most of them unconscious—or worse.  Every light died, fire-based or otherwise, while the entire wing itself seemed to be heaving under the burst of energy.  Nopony was left standing, not even Discord.  Groans and coughs followed, some more pained than others.

Taking only a moment to regain his bearings, Discord roared, “That’s not possible!  My magic can do anything!  This is just a chunk of blasted earth!”  He punched it as hard as he could with his paw, an uncharacteristic burst of rage filling his head.  When it finally cleared, he sat down on the ground in utter disbelief.  He snapped his fingers to reignite the lights in the hall, then proceeded to mull over his failure.

I’ve…been beaten by a slab of rock…  No!  There has to be more to it than that!  This puzzle is getting bigger by the second!  No…there are only two things more powerful than me: the Elements of Harmony…and that strange man’s magic.  What did he call it?  What was his name?  Why is this statue so damned familiar?  Argh, my head!

As he thought more about his puzzles, his head began to throb.  It only took a few seconds for that throbbing to escalate into a full-body surge of pins and needles.  With an ear-wrenching screech, a burst of golden magic shot from his head and into the statue.  A beam of purple energy shot back into him, knocking him several yards down the hall, landing with a grotesque thud on the ground.  As he let out winded gasps of pain, a blanket of clarity enveloped his mind.

That’s it!  I remember it all so clearly now!  The ‘Daedric Prince of Madness,’ he was called!  Sheogorath, if I’m not mistaken…or Madgod, as the case had been…  A chill ran up the draconequus’s spine as he remembered the demented identity of the strange demon from another world.  Madness:  the only magic that has ever been able to completely negate my own with minimal effort.  Then again, it worked the other way around, too…

“But why am I suddenly remembering these things?  Are they connected to that energy just now?”

Discord picked himself up off the ground, floating cautiously toward the large statue.  Even with his memory jogged, there were still so many questions that needed answers.  Taking a look at the fallen ponies around him, he let out a defeated sigh.

Recovering her footing, Princess Celestia groaned, “What happened, Discord?  What did you do?”  Using her magic to steady herself and Luna, the two approached the chaotic beast with determination.

“Madness happened, my dear.  Madness at its finest.”

“Madness?  Whatever do you mean?” Luna scoffed, not understanding his cryptic explanation.

Of course.  Even if he hadn’t undone his damage, Luna still wouldn’t have a clue what Sheogorath is.  Not personally, at least.  Pity; they might have gotten along great.  After all, a princess that can see dreams and a man whose head is filled with voices…

Discord physically shuddered at the thought of the two growing fond of one another before etching it from his brain space permanently.  He attempted to explain, “Do you believe in other worlds, Luna?”

“Of course I do.  Twilight Sparkle has been to one, after all.”

Remembering that as fact, the beast suddenly found it significantly easier to explain his thoughts on the current dilemma.  “Then you know that there are mysterious creatures in countless other worlds.  Some of those creatures hold power greater than anything any of us could imagine.”  He paused only temporarily to decide his next few words, “I’ve met one such creature…”

Well, technically I’ve met a dozen such creatures, but that’s a story for another day.

Celestia spat, “What are you talking about, Discord?  We would know if creatures from other worlds were intervening in ours.”  Her tone carried a mixture of anger and confusion.

“You would think so, wouldn’t you?  But alas, it seems that you and your subjects are so rooted in order and Harmony that your minds seem to draw blanks when the otherworldly creatures leave.  Being chaotic, it only makes sense that I would remember things that make no sense.”  Snapping his claws, a small figurine appeared directly in front of the princesses’ faces.

Taking a moment to study the bipedal creature portrayed by the statuette, Luna gasped, “This is one of the ‘humans’ that Twilight Sparkle told us about, is it not?”  She wrapped the figure in her own cobalt aura, pulling it closer.  “Is it wearing a suit?”

“An intelligent and dapper young boy, twelve years of age, if memory serves me right.  He and his companions ended up in this world, where bad things happened.  Needless to say, intervention on such a large scale freed me from my prison, and I—”

“That’s enough, Discord,” Celestia snapped.  “I’ve no intention of listening to your mindless ramblings.  Whether it’s the truth or not, what does it have to do with this statue?”

Goodness, she’s feisty today, isn’t she?  Very well; it’s time for explanations.

“The most recent visitor—should you choose to believe me—held a power known as Madness.  While similar to my Chaos, it was much more destructive.  This statue reacted to my magic and converted it into a different form, sending it back at us.”  He placed his paw on the upper snout of the lion, petting it gently.  “Madness is the only force I believe that’s capable of doing such a thing to my Chaos.”

“So what, the statue is channeling the Madness from this mysterious visitor you claim existed?”  Luna wanted to believe that there had been visitors prior to this strange statue, but her sister didn’t seem to be buying it.

Placing his claws together and leering at the statue, Discord sighed, “That’s exactly what I’m saying.  And, if I’m correct, then things could get messy bef—!”

Cutting him off in mid-sentence, a mysterious voice called out through the hall.  It was familiar, even to the elder alicorn, though it felt hollow and distant.  It had a foreign accent, and rang out with excitement.

“Well would you look at that, Haskill; the kitten was tellin’ the truth!  Shame he died…”

***

The sun was high in the sky over the Emean Sea on the edge of the Fringe, the southwestern-most sector of the Shivering Isles, Sheogorath’s realm.  The Madgod was standing atop one of the highest hills in the sector, a mere yard from his chamberlain, Haskill.  The two were staring intently at a rather large lion’s head statue that had seemingly appeared from nowhere.

It sat directly in front of the screaming man’s head statue that had served as the gateway to and from Cyrodiil the many months previous.  It blocked the mouth of the statue, a light golden aura swirling in its own mouth.  The sight simply amazed the Madgod, as he hadn’t so much as caught a whiff of the magical aura, which was very hard for him to accept.  Haskill, as usual, simply stood in an impassive manner, waiting for his Lord’s next orders.

The Madgod cheered excitedly, “Well would you look at that, Haskill; the kitten was tellin’ the truth!  Shame he died…”  Taking a moment to scan the statue with world-weary eyes, he added, “I wonder where it came from and where it goes.”

“There’s no telling, sir.  You’ll simply have to enter it to know.”

“Bah, how primitive!  Where’s the fun in going to the other side to find out what’s there?  Why don’t we call someone from over there here?  After all, that’s how I met my Champion!”  Clapping his hands together, Sheogorath stepped closer to the vortex of energy.  Thoughts began to race through his head.

Too many thoughts, he thought, my head might just explode!  But this energy feels familiar, almost like a piece of me!  I think I’ll tell Haskill that once I’m done thinking.  Thinking, thinking, thinking, so much thinking!  But someone has to do it, and I’ll be damned if it’s not me!

“This energy feels familiar, Haskill!  Almost as if it’s mine!”  He reached out cautiously with his staff, tapping the top of the lion’s snout.  A surge of golden energy shot through it, vanishing as it reached his hand.  “That’s curious.  The Wabbajack is reacting…”

As the Madgod went to withdraw his fabled staff, a burst of purple magic shot from his chest and ran along the length of staff, puncturing the vortex.  For a split second, he heard a familiar voice groan in agony, but it was quickly replaced with a civilized conversation.

“Where is that voice coming from, Discord?  What kind of game are you playing?” A feminine, regal voice cut through the energy with hardly any distortion, aside from a slight echo.

An all-too-familiar voice followed suit with an indignant tone.  Unlike the first voice, there wasn’t a single filter of distortion to be heard.  “I’m not playing any games, Celestia!  This is none of my doing!  But that voice feels all-too-familiar…”  It faded out, only to be replaced by a sudden gasp of understanding.

Before the second voice could follow its gasp, a third, nearly mute voice groaned, “Do you two see what’s happening, or are my eyes playing tricks on me?”  This new voice sounded feminine, albeit younger than the first.

“Do you hear that, Haskill?  Do you know whose voices those are?”  Turning on his heels and releasing the Wabbajack to do its thing, he grinned creepily at his chamberlain.  “That would be Chaos!  My Chaos!  Discord, if the name sits right on my tongue!  That damned should-be dragon!”

“How quaint, sir.  An old friend of yours, I would assume?”

“Have I never told you the tale of Chaos and Madness, Haskill?  Oh boy, what a tale to tell your children’s tails!”

“It knows your name!” the third voice screeched, fear flooding her tone.

The first voice groaned, “It’s more than that, sister.  It knows his magic…”

The second voice, now trembling in shock and excitement, called out, “It’s been a while, Madgod.”

A while, eh?  Just a while?  Feels like an eternity!  Maybe I’ll tell him that.  That old draconequus, the Master of Chaos!  Two magics that simply belong by each other’s sides!

“Too long, I’d say.  Never did get to visit again, sorry for that!  Been busy travelling the realms of existence!  I took a wrong turn at the World of Ruin and got lost for a week!  One helluva week that was!”

A large grin stretched across Sheogorath’s face as he snapped his fingers together.  On the other end of the golden portal to another world, a similar black one burst to life in the linked lion’s mouth.  And, through all the doubt in his mind, Discord entered it fearlessly, excited to see his old frenemy—the man that his mind had been attempting to remember for an entire day—once more.

Just as he entered the black vortex of energy, it vanished from the mouth of the lion.  When the two alicorn sisters began to protest the idea of the beast being without check, Sheogorath silenced them entirely by closing the portal on his end.  Which, as he found out, was much more difficult than he anticipated.

But before all that, in the split second after the draconequus’s entrance, the two almighty beasts stared at each other.  Their eyes locked in a battle of mutual respect and fear, each instantly sensing that something was wrong with the other.  Something in the eyes of the demons of Chaos and Madness left an impression of something horrible about to happen.  And in an odd harmony of tones and thoughts, they both exclaimed,

“Something’s wrong here!” Next Chapter: The Fringe Has Eyes Estimated time remaining: 12 Minutes